


so here is away and so your is a my

by nausicaa_of_phaeacia



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Flying, Gen, Grant Ward is a Nazi, Hurt/Comfort, Hydra, Post Season 01, Prompt Fic, Skye's birthday, skoulsonfest2k14, tw: canon Ward/Skye, two dorks!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-27
Updated: 2014-08-27
Packaged: 2018-02-15 01:35:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2210754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nausicaa_of_phaeacia/pseuds/nausicaa_of_phaeacia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skye's birthday. Good and bad things, and flying Lola.</p>
            </blockquote>





	so here is away and so your is a my

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RosePark15](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosePark15/gifts).



> Written for the skoulsonfest! :) (I'm a day late though. Sorry.)  
> I own only what I made up myself. Sorry, I always rush my stuff. I guess this fic just sounds like fast-forwarding one of my headcanon plots. I apologize. :)  
> The title is a line from a poem by e.e. cummings.
> 
> Prompts:  
> [LOLA]; [COULSON'S FATHER]; [HURT/COMFORT]; [TRAINING]

Everybody's still busy with repair work and sorting through files (obtained legally and illegally), rebuidling a S.H.I.E.L.D. which, at the moment, is still a construction that's suddenly been robbed of its fundaments, teetering on very few pillars. At least that's how Hill put it when Skye asked her about her degree of involvement. So, no wonder, with Fitz slowly recovering but still unconscious, Simmons trying very hard not to bond with Trip, May wrecking her steel nerves providing Koenig with basic training, and Coulson drawing weird maps on walls, it's no wonder Skye's birthday has been forgotten. She barely notices herself, it's actually a plain envelope from Hill with a (still) slightly official-sounding birthday note. _Nice thought_ , but making her remember right now is worse, to be honest. 

She's not sure she really cares, and she probably wouldn't, at least not about the event, but it does bug her that the only person to remind her of it is the only one she has ever regarded as a sort of rival (no matter _how_ nice she's been).  
Around noon, though, someone's trying to hack one of the proxy servers they're "borrowing" and before Skye can actually decrypt all of the incoming message, she reads,

"STILL HAVEN'T TAUGHT YOU HOW TO HOLD UP UNDER TORTURE YET. ENJOY YOUR BIRTHDAY CAKE WHILE YOU CAN. ONLY THE MYTHOLOGICAL HYDRA DIES WHEN YOU CUT OFF ITS HEAD."

It's just then that everybody drops into the common room to hunt for some food, and soon, Skye, shaking like a leaf, is crowded by the team, Simmons trying to hug her, stroking her hair, everybody asking questions. Fitz, eyes wide, pushes a button to project the message onto the big screen. May just nods at Trip, and he rushes to get Coulson (who never eats lunch). He arrives instantly, grabbing Skye by the arm, pulling her away with him, barking at the others, "You handle this. We'll be around the block." And from the door, without turning back, "And better find the best cake available in the state!"

It's all a haze for her, but Coulson's pulling her out, out, _out_ , and onto Lola's passenger seat, closing the door very carefully. And he's straight out running around the car to get in, and up they go, out the base, up high and into stealth mode (which would probably make Skye freak out a little if she were quite herself right now). As soon as they are out of sight, Coulson slows Lola down and they are sort of just hovering over green and brown and yellow rectangles. The flying has a strangely calming effect on her. He looks at her, and she turns left, and for a moment, they just look at each other. Skye still looks very frightened, but very resolute. _Weird_ , she thinks, how _sometimes, with Coulson, it's really not necessary to explain things_. And it all comes to her: that this was actually an emergency mission for him, to get her out of there.

She looks out the windshield again. "Thank you."  
"For what?," is the instant reply, and his tone is earnest.  
"You know ... for giving me a change of scenery a.s.a.p."  
Old self again. Good.  
He doesn't reply, but she can actually hear him smirk, and that's much better than your usual "you're welcome", at least to Skye.  
"I feel really bad for letting him get to me like this. I was over what he did to me. At least I thought I was, but now I just feel very vulnerable."

"I know how you feel."  
"You do?"  
"Well," he briefly touches his tie, "no. Not exactly. I've never experienced the things you had to. But I get the idea."  
It takes her a beat.  
"How?"  
She hears him swallow. She doesn't dare to look at him again, yet.  
"My father was HYDRA."  
It's not really that she's too shy to say anything, but this pretty much takes her breath away for a second.  
"Very long and unpleasant story short, I never knew until I had people at S.H.I.E.L.D. confront me about it."

She wants to say something, but just swallows instead. This is not just about _her_.  
"You know the drill. Anger, coping, vulnerability. I know your experiences are very different from mine, but ... I know the rage. And I know what it's like to feel exposed. Frail. Weak."  
She nods, she guesses he'll probably see it from the corner of his eyes.  
"You did nothing wrong."  
At that, she kind of just starts crying a little. Not all that much really, but there must have been like a small dam that broke. A few tears. _Not more than eleven_.  
"You're a much stronger person than I am."  
It makes her turn around very swiftly to look at him. He kind of looks at her from the side. "It's true."  
She half-smiles. "Thank you, A.C."  
The _smirk_ again.

A moment passes, then, "You wanna try?"  
"- _What_?"  
"Come on, Skye. You know what I'm talking about." You can hear he's smiling while he speaks.  
"... __seriously?__ "  
"Yeah."  
 _Director Phil Smirk._  
Coulson gets up (Lola is hovering very steadily) and steps behind the seats so they can switch places. The beaming smile on Skye's face is priceless, and she flies them around for a while – you can tell she has quite a lot of experience with cars. She makes little joyful noises every now and then, though, and Coulson can't help but smile like an idiot.

When she finally turns around to bring them back to the base (Coulson helping her manage the landing process smoothly), she looks as happy as ever. As they're getting out, she says, "Thank you, Coulson. This really meant a lot to me. You know, this is definitely the best birthday I've ever had."  
"You're welcome, Skye." They're closing Lola's doors simultaneously. "But – it's not just about your birthday." She looks up at him questioningly. "I mean, _yes_ , I had intended to do this as a present anyway, emergencies aside. But as someone who's going to be Assistant Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. 2.0, you're in need of some training." He gestures in Lola's direction. 

She's speechless. And then, she can't decide if she should be asking a million questions or hug her boss or cry or jump, or kiss him. No.  
"Coulson, you're not – this is not a joke?"  
He smirks, again, but this time, there's definitely more to it, something else, not just the trademark _Agent Philip Coulson_ smugness. There's ... He looks like right now, Skye is really all he cares about in the world, and she almost _gasps_ at the idea.  
"No." He's beaming at her, to be precise.  
She lights up again, then decides to just not give a damn and takes a little jump to go and hug him. It's a déjà-vu, to be honest, but his arms are _actually_ around her this time. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou _thankyou_. I ... I don't know what to say."  
"Thanks, boss?," he offers, and the smugness is there this time. She grins. "Yeah, of course, I mean, _thanks, boss_."

They untangle.  
Suddenly, she looks a little shy. "You think I'm good enough for -"  
"You're the best. No one else can do the job."  
She's playing with her hair.  
"And I wouldn't want anyone else to try and do it."  
Her smile is back.  
"You really value me."  
He looks at the tips of his shoes. Then, a tiny nod. That _other thing_ in his smile is back, and it makes Skye wonder, it makes her thoughts run wild, hurrying, almost feverishly, then -  
A beat passes, and it's almost _too_ long a pause, but then she leans in, and kisses him on the lips. Quickly. Like a breeze.  
His eyes are on her, wide.  
"I _value_ you too, Coulson." A flashing smile, then she's gone, a little clap of her hands right before she disappears.  
And Coulson's standing there, next to Lola, grinning like an idiot, feeling like the biggest fool in the world, bringing his fingers to where her lips were just a moment ago.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :)  
> Please tell me what you think!


End file.
